In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins

Overview

Key: D minor · Chords used: 7 · Sections: 16

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). This page shows that transcription as-is: the analysis below is generated directly from it by code, not written by AI. Consecutive repeats of a chord are shown once, and the piano voicings are our playable arrangement of each chord symbol, not a note-for-note transcription.

Section by section

Part 1 (0:05)

• D5
  I5

Part 2 (0:07)

Same chords as Part 1 (0:05).

Part 3 (0:28)

• Dm – Cadd9/D – B♭/D – Cadd9/D – Dm – Cadd9/D – B♭/D
  i – bVIIadd9 (bass D) – bVI⁶ – bVIIadd9 (bass D) – i – bVIIadd9 (bass D) – bVI⁶

Part 4 (0:48)

• Cadd9/D – Dm – Cadd9/D – B♭/D (×2)
  bVIIadd9 (bass D) – i – bVIIadd9 (bass D) – bVI⁶

Part 5 (1:08)

• Cadd9/D – Dm – Cadd9/D – B♭/D – Cadd9/D – Dm
  bVIIadd9 (bass D) – i – bVIIadd9 (bass D) – bVI⁶ – bVIIadd9 (bass D) – i

Part 6 (1:29)

• C69/D – B♭6/D – Dm7
  bVII69 (bass D) – bVI6 (bass D) – i7

Part 7 (1:49)

• Dm – C69/D – B♭/D – Dm7
  i – bVII69 (bass D) – bVI⁶ – i7

Part 8 (2:09)

Same chords as Part 3 (0:28).

Part 9 (2:29)

Same chords as Part 4 (0:48).

Part 10 (2:50)

• Cadd9/D – Dm – C69/D
  bVIIadd9 (bass D) – i – bVII69 (bass D)

Part 11 (3:10)

• B♭6/D – Dm7 – Dm – C69/D
  bVI6 (bass D) – i7 – i – bVII69 (bass D)

Part 12 (3:30)

• B♭/D – Dm7 – Dm – Cadd9/D – B♭/D
  bVI⁶ – i7 – i – bVIIadd9 (bass D) – bVI⁶

Part 13 (3:50)

Same chords as Part 4 (0:48).

Part 14 (4:10)

Same chords as Part 4 (0:48).

Part 15 (4:31)

Same chords as Part 4 (0:48).

Part 16 (4:51)

• Cadd9/D – Dm – Cadd9/D – B♭/D (×3)
  bVIIadd9 (bass D) – i – bVIIadd9 (bass D) – bVI⁶

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). Chord annotation of the original recording (Face Value), time-stamped by researchers; CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo.
• Section names: this annotation doesn't name verses or choruses, so they aren't guessed. Instead, code used the chord timings to find the bars and cut the song into 8-bar parts. Each part is labelled with the time it starts in the annotated recording (Face Value), and a part with exactly the same chords as an earlier one says so.
• The key was estimated by code from the chords; this annotation doesn't state it.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.